What's the trick to tighten those Bilstein strut caps?

[Ado Sigal]

Very sound advice from Phil on quality tools, as 
well as keeping the shaft from turning while 
tightening. For same reason I would call the guy, 
who tightens the strut with impact wrench, an idiot. 
Impact could be only used to undo those nuts, never 
to tighten it, reason being, you can't prevent the 
shaft from turning. Since those nuts are self 
locking, they tend to rotate the shaft and undo the 
slotted nut, which tightens top spring holding hut. 
Spring pressure and spring resting slots are greater 
than slotted nut resistance torque, it almost always 
gets undone. If I was you, I would make sure that 
slotted nuts are tight, and tighten it again with 
lock nuts making sure the shaft doesn't turn.

Ado

Ameer Antar wrote:

> How about using a 22mm box-end wrench and a 7mm allen socket attached to 
> a torque wrench? Isn't that the same thing? I was planning on doing that 
> on the front and back, but I ended up getting the front strut springs 
> pressed at a machine shop cuz my spring compressors wouldn't fit around 
> the bottom spring seat. They used a hydraulic press and even though I 
> asked the guy to use a torque wrench... he just used an impact wrench to 
> tighten that down. I'm sure it's on there good, I just don't know if 
> I'll be able to get it out the next time... I'm sure the center piston 
> strut spinned around in there while he was using the impact wrench... Do 
> you think there's any problem w/ the spinning? Thanks.
> 
> -Ameer
> 
> ----Original Message----
> 
> Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 12:23:30 +0100
> From: "Phil Payne" <quattro at isham-research.com>
> Subject: Re: What's the trick to tighten those Bilstein strut caps?
> To: <quattro at audifans.com>
> Message-ID: <024101c41001$d53d69c0$0e00a8c0 at bt.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;    charset="iso-8859-1"
> 
>> My bigger problem was tightening the top nut on the rear struts. Have
>> you dealt with these yet?  Bilstein specs something like 40 ft lbs and
>> expects me to hold the thing with a 7 mm hex,  No way!
> 
> 
> Sorry - standard practice.  Sounds to me like a seriously sub-standard 
> Allen key.
> 
> I use a Stahlwille 1051 22mm cut-away socket and a high-quality long 7mm 
> Allen key.  Just make
> sure the Allen key is fully home.  Tap it in with a hammer and slide the 
> cut-away socket over
> it - lift and rotate the socket and not the Allen key when tightening.
> 
> <entirely justified rant>
> 
> I like good tools.  As a mobile engineer (Kerbside Motors) I need stuff 
> I can depend on - I
> don't have the space to carry two of everything.  Since I junked 
> Snap-Off and went with FACOM
> I've had almost no tool problems - a breath of pure relief.  Jeez - that 
> stuff was crap.
> "Lifetime guarantees" are no use in the pissing, freezing rain miles 
> from the nearest dealer.
> 
> Stahlwille is good, and they have the nouse to stamp their tools with 
> their name so I can
> "brand recognise" and buy more of their stuff.  I have done just that - 
> a complete set of
> 12-point Crowfoot sockets for Audi fuel injection and their wonderful 
> slimline open-ended
> spanners (wrenches) that are particularly useful for brake caliper guide 
> pins.  Out of a set
> of nine, I've replaced ONE in 29 years.
> 
> (It was the 15mm.  I opened it up on an I5 turbo nut.)
> 
> The Allen key I normally use for the strut job is VERY high quality - as 
> good or better than
> Beargrip or FACOM.  But all it says is "Made in USA".  Morons.  Whoever 
> you are - if your
> stuff is all as good as this, I would like to buy more of it.  I've been 
> doing strut top
> mounts on ur-quattros and Type 44s with this Allen key (to 40Nm, which 
> isn't all that much)
> for eight years and there isn't a scratch on it.  It is an _excellent_ 
> little piece of
> engineering - but no one seems to be proud of having made it.
> 
> </entirely justified rant>
>